Off to Medellín

To My Valued Patients, Friends & Colleagues,

As many of you know, I am the President of the American Association of Aesthetic Medicine & Surgery (AAAMS), an association dedicated to revolutionizing cosmetic surgery procedures. I travel often to train physicians around the world. This month, I am invited to speak at a prominent medical aesthetics seminar in the beautiful city of Medellín, Colombia. I am leading a discussion, “Vascular Occlusion by Dermal Fillers – Emergence Intervention Protocol”.

Although rare, skin necrosis is a potentially devastating complication of treatment with injectable fillers. Necrosis is caused by vascular compromise resulting from arterial or venous obstruction. The occlusion of blood flow can be due to trauma to the vessel wall, inadvertent intravascular injection of the product, or a direct pressure effect of the filling agent on the vessel causing obstruction of the vessel lumen. Furthermore, injection-related edema can compromise blood flow by contributing an external force on the vessel wall.

I will present clinical cases, discuss the danger zones, techniques to minimize this serious complication, and present a comprehensive early treatment intervention algorithm or protocol to address this emergency situation.